We had our fourth child, a boy, on June 28th. Since then, life has sped up in some ways and slowed down in others. I'm fortunate to have the entire summer off, the majority of which was with the baby. We've been able to focus on family time, the garden, and planning for our oldest to go to school in the fall. I've had some side projects here and there, but nothing compared to the magnitude of last summer's work.
I remember thinking ahead to what it would be like to have four kids at home. Some things I was right about, others...not so much.
We've come into a habit where one of us is with the baby and the other has the three older kids. It isn't 100% of the time for sure, but it's familiar. We take turns focusing on E and the day to day routine doesn't really change for the older girls.
It was hard to remember to call him "him." We had to erase "the girls" from our vocabulary when referring to all of our children collectively.
I tend to want to watch movies when I'm up late with E and read books whem I'm up early with him. Not sure why.
I head back to work in about two weeks and we're working on stepping up to full days away. The older girls have done a really amazing job playing together kindly, involving their youngest sister (still just 18 months old) in their adventures outside.
I think my biggest lesson has been to let go of some of the control I feel I need to have. If the kids are filling the pool with grass clippings and making pond scum, more power to them.